Editorial: Shine the light, Congress

It seems lately that the more government wants to know what citizens are up to, the less government wants citizens to know what it is doing.

At a time when we are witnessing extraordinary revelations about government spying on American citizens and even alleged spying by the CIA on Congress, we're also seeing efforts to shield those who run and influence government from public scrutiny.

There's no better time to talk about this than Sunshine Week -— a time for taking stock of how open and accountable to the people our government of the people really is.

One of the gravest threats to transparency in our democratic system has been the sidestepping of disclosure laws -on political contributions by individuals, associations and corporations that have been able to hide their donations behind so-called social welfare groups. These groups are formed under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The groups don't have to reveal the identity of their donors. That wouldn't be a problem if they were really engaged solely in social welfare issues. But an increasingly number of them have been exposed as mainly political.

The Center for Responsive Politics says this anonymity resulted in $333 million worth of secret influence in the 2012 election --— that we know of. Since the groups aren't held to detailed reporting requirements, their full political spending may be even greater.

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What do you really want to know about your government? Here's your chance to have us do some digging for you.

Every year, newspapers all over the country observe Sunshine Week. It's a time to remind citizens of the value of open government and the dangers of excessive secrecy. This year's Sunshine Week is March 16-22.

With narrow exceptions set by law, you're entitled to see the records kept by taxpayer-funded agencies — salaries, maps, photos, memos, databases, court papers, and the like. Times Union reporters use these documents regularly, often for important watchdog and investigative stories. But what about you?

During this Sunshine Week, send us questions, ideas and issues you want us to explore for you. We'll turn the best ideas into stories for all our readers. Send your requests to: Brendan Lyons, Investigations Editor, Times Union, 645 Albany-Shaker Road, Albany, N.Y. 12212. Email: blyons@timesunion.com

Originally the so-called "(c)(4)'s" weren't permitted to engage in any political activity. But the IRS in 1959 decided that some politics would be OK, as long as it wasn't a group's "primary purpose." Today that has morphed into an absurdly lax standard: not more than 50 percent.

But even that threshold doesn't seem to be respected, thanks to porous enforcement by the Federal Election Commission and IRS. The IRS did try to crack down on the abuse of the designation, only to be mired in allegations that its real focus was tea party groups, suggesting a political agenda. Never mind that the IRS was also looking at progressive and other kinds of groups; the controversy drags on, as some in Congress milk it for all the political points they can.

That static obscures the larger issue: A transparent and accountable government arises from the people who run it, meaning we need to demand that they meet those standards before they're elected. Citizens have to know who is behind the money that's used to promote candidates, to attack their opponents, and to in other ways influence elections. That matters whether the cash is coming from a George Soros on the left or a Koch brother on the right.

We need Congress to stop the abuse of the 501 (c)(4) designation, with far more clear and stringent limits on political activity by social welfare organizations.

If politicians owe their careers to people who manipulate our political system from the shadows, how can we expect them to appreciate sunshine when they're in power?